Let's Just Finish the Dance
by Klarolineluvr34
Summary: After declaring that she wants nothing to do with the Miss Mystic Pageant, an unexpected cry for help leaves a conflicted Hope right in the middle of it. Meanwhile, Josie discovers a startling revelation. (1x14 AU)
1. Declaration of Refusal

Hope and Landon are on Hope's bed in her dorm heatedly making out when Landon decides to strike up a conversation.

"So are you going to the dance?" Landon asks clearly confusing Hope before kissing her again.

"What dance?" Hope questions after the kiss breaks, still confused yet also annoyed that he interrupted their makeout session.

"Oh you know, the Miss Mystic thing that our school's hosting." Landon explains as she starts kissing his neck but she stops and sighs, very annoyed by the topic he chose.

"Right, I totally forgot about the dance." Hope says in a sarcastic manner that Landon picked up on, especially since she rolled her eyes when she said it.

"Translation: I was planning on ignoring the entire event until you brought it up, thanks Landon." Landon mimics Hope with her tone and actual voice causing Hope to playfully shove his chest before mimicking him.

"Oh, anytime Hope." Hope mimics in a deep voice that sounds nothing like Landon, which makes both of them laugh for a moment before Hope pulls him in, continuing to make out again.

Hope is on top of Landon when he clearly wants start another conversation but Hope stops him before he can.

"You want to ruin the moment, don't you?" Hope asks and although his face already has the answer, he verbally responds anyway.

"Kind of, maybe, uh, yeah." Landon sputters out awkwardly making Hope good-naturedly roll her eyes before continuing to kiss him.

"Yeah, well don't." Hope requests and the two continue to make out.

Landon is about to top Hope, to presumably have sex as he's shirtless while his hands are under Hope's shirt about to remove it, until there's a knock on her door causing them to stop, much to Hope's annoyance.

"Hey, I didn't ruin the moment." Landon whispers proudly bringing a small smile to Hope's face before she hears another knock and rolls her eyes then gets off the bed.

Hope sighs in annoyance as she fixes both her shirt and hair before answering the door.

"Can I help you?" Hope asks annoyed but her mood immediately changes when she sees who was knocking.

"Oh, hi Dr. Saltzman." Hope says surprised by the visit and alerting Landon, who picks up his shirt from the floor and hides somewhere in her dorm room.

"May I come in?" Alaric questions, shocking Hope by the request but she quickly recovers.

"Yes of course, come on in." Hope opens the door fully and steps aside so he can walk in.

Hope sighs in relief when she sees that Landon left while Alaric looks confused at her messy sheets which he causes him to glance back at her with a questioning look about.

"I'm a very intense sleeper, I move around a lot." Hope explains nervously once she realized what he was looking at.

"So, what's with the unexpected visit, Dr. Saltzman?" Hope asks, having him return to the reason as to why he's there so late at night.

"Since I'm sure you know about the school hosting the Miss Mystic Pageant, I was wondering if you wanted to participate in it." Alaric wonders aloud yet decides he should elaborate when he sees that Hope's confused.

"Hope, would you like to be a contestant in the pageant?" Alaric asks, leaving Hope both shocked and stunned by the headmaster's newest request of her.

"Um. Normally I would say yes because you're the headmaster and a friend, of sorts but this is cutting pretty close. Seeing as how the event is tomorrow, and the fact that I have plans that day." Hope admits after pointing out the timing that Alaric has, which causes him to nod in understanding.

"Do your plans involve locking yourself in this room, binge watching cutthroat kitchen?" Alaric wonders and Hope shakes her head in disagreement.

"No, they don't. I actually cleared my entire usually busy schedule to make time for myself tomorrow." Hope reveals and Alaric seems happy by this.

"Well, I just thought I'd ask. Seeing as how Lizzie and Josie wanted you to take part in it." Alaric claims, shocking Hope.

"Both Lizzie and Josie wanted me to be apart of the pageant?" Hope's tone says disbelief but Ric just nods his head in agreement.

"Well, I'll let you go back to what you were doing. Sorry for the interruption." Alaric apologizes for intruding on whatever Hope was doing and she escorts him out of her room.

Once the door is closed, Landon comes out of her bathroom with his shirt on, looking at her suspiciously.

"So, you have plans tomorrow that are intense enough to clear your usual schedule. I'm mildly concerned." Landon states as Hope turns around and walks closer to him.

"Care to tell me what those plans are?" Landon suggests as he puts his hands on her waist and her arms are already around his neck as she smiles at him.

"I could, but that would ruin the surprise of my plans." Hope looks at Landon's mouth as she speaks.

"Well, they're clearly important plans. Maybe you can tell me about them tomorrow?" Landon whispers as he looks at Hope's mouth while he speaks.

"I guess you can say, I plan on it." Hope gives a suggestive hint to her plans while making a play-on word/pun which makes them both smile before they kiss.

The kiss breaks then they kiss again, sharing kisses before Landon puts Hope's legs around his waist as they start to make out once he presses her against a wall.

"Mmm. We should probably get actual sleep. Who knows, someone might interrupt us again." Hope points out with a roll of her eyes, stopping the make out session causing Landon to pout but he puts her down as a way of agreeing with her point.

Then the two of them head to sleep, with Landon spooning Hope, which is probably going to be a mistake, seeing as how she has a habit of moving often.


	2. Preparations

Hours later, Hope and Landon are sleeping peacefully when there's a knock on the door.

Landon gently nudges Hope when a second knock is made, which causes Hope to roll over and accidentally roll off the bed as a result.

She stands up to squint at her alarm clock, which reveals that it's three o'clock in the morning, and she grunts in annoyance before answering her door.

"What?" Hope's tone is very annoyed as she leans against her open door in her pajamas, that consists of a purple tank top, which is ridden up from her sleeping habits, and black shorts that are very short, showing off her long legs, and also messy from how she sleeps, with frizzy, staticed hair.

"I'm sorry to bother you. Uh, we have a problem." Emma claims causing Hope to raise an eyebrow, confused.

"Your explanation better be fast, it better be good, and it better be easy to understand." Hope demands, her tone is annoyed and half-asleep, which explains her last demand, so Emma gets to the point.

"Our planner for the pageant just went into labor, so she can't make it. Then I was thinking, since your artistic, you'd have an eye for design. So, I was wondering if maybe you could help set up the event?" Emma suggests, sticking to Hope's demands with her explanation, and Hope gapes at her in shock.

"Emma. It's three o'clock in the morning, the pageant doesn't start for hours." Hope reminds Emma, who nods in understanding and agreement.

"I know, but the sooner we set up, the less we have to worry about." Emma assures Hope, who shrugs knowing that she has a point.

"Fine. just give me five minutes, I'll meet you in the main hall, or wherever we're throwing this thing." Hope agrees to help then closes the door.

She brushes her teeth, pins her hair up in a claw clip, puts on an oversized sweater, and slides on some flats then leaves a letter for Landon, informing him where she'll be, before walking out in order to find where they're setting up.

Hope meets Emma in the main hall, still looking half-asleep but determined to help, and Emma hands her a clipboard.

"These are the planner's blueprints for the event." Emma states as Hope looks them over then she looks around the room before looking back at the blueprints.

"No they aren't. These blueprints don't match this room's layout. Is she engaged?" Hope wonders curiously and Emma nods.

"Yeah, her and her long-time girlfriend, now fiancee, are getting married in three months." Emma explains and Hope smiles at this.

"Cute. Well, you might want to send these back. I think she accidentally sent over her wedding plans." Hope hands Emma the clipboard back, causing her to look it over, realizing that Hope's right.

"Good call." Emma walks away and Hope grabs a different clipboard, starting to make a list of the things she's going to need and use.

Three hours later, Hope is finishing setting up some flower arrangements when Landon walks in.

"Hey. Got your note, you seem busy." Landon points out causing Hope to look and frown at him.

"I don't want to be. Have you seen Emma? She's supposed to be here helping out as well." Hope claims bitterly as she checks something off the list then turns around to face Landon, who is standing behind her.

Before Landon can answer, Hope notices two students moving floral arrangements, and she looks appalled at the sight.

"Hold that thought." Hope smiles at Landon then makes her way over to the other students.

"What are you doing?" Hope asks trying to be nice.

"Putting these where they can be seen." one of the students replies making Hope angry.

"Well, maybe you should put them back because I put them where they were for a reason." Hope tries to keep the anger out of her voice but it fails and Landon notices her anger is getting out of control, as some things starts to rattle.

"You could just let us help. That's what we were sent here for." the other student responds snarkily, which was a bad move.

Hope's eyes glow yellow as she is about to retort when Landon walks up, putting a hand on her shoulder, causing her eyes to go normal.

"Well, you were poorly misinformed. Breakfast is still happening, so why don't you hand me those, then head to the dining hall, and just focus on the rest of the school day that you have." Landon suggests, taking the arrangements from them with a smile, so the students leave the main hall, taking Landon's suggestions.

Hope sighs in frustration as she walks with Landon in order to put the arrangements back where they were.

"Thank you." Hope thanks Landon, who smiles.

"Your anger was getting the best of you. I figured I could try to lessen the situation." Landon claims and Hope just sighs again.

"I just… some people just infuriate me sometimes." Hope states grumpily as she pouts and Landon embraces her in a hug.

"I know, I feel that way too. Sometimes you just need to breathe and realize that you're okay." Landon advises then kisses the top of her head.

"I have to get back to work. You should probably get breakfast before it ends." Hope points after the hug breaks causing Landon to nod.

"Alright. I'll bring something back for you." Landon says and Hope smiles as she nods at him.

Hope continues working, even after Landon returns with food for her which she ate while she worked.

Another three hours pass, meaning Hope's been setting up for officially six hours with no breaks.

She's bent over on a table with floral arrangements, checking some things off of her clipboard when Landon, who has been very helpful, comes behind her, putting his arms around her waist and placing his head on her shoulder.

"You've been working for hours. I think you need to take a minute." Landon voices his thoughts causing Hope to sigh.

"I can't take a minute. I need to finish this." Hope claims as she continues to write so Landon removes the pen from her hand causing Hope to stand yet not turn to face Landon.

"Look, this is the progress that you made in six hours of working. Breathe, take in your surroundings, appreciate it, and realize you've accomplished a lot in a pretty short amount of time." Landon advises, whispering in her ear, so Hope breathes and takes in all of her work.

"Now, just take a minute to keep breathing." Landon continues to give Hope advice as he starts to massage her shoulders, which she enjoys.

"You didn't sign up for this, therefore no one will care if you take a small break." Landon whispers in her ear then places small kisses on her now bare neck, as she tilted her head to the side.

Landon starts kissing the front of her neck, which has Hope turn to face him so they can make out.

The make out session has gotten intense as Landon places Hope on the table she's against after putting the pen on the clipboard she shifted to the side before he put her on the table.

Landon is very handsy with Hope during their making out, as part of her sweater is off one shoulder while he kisses her neck.

He continues to kiss Hope's neck as she quietly moans when there's the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"Hey, Emma." Hope greets her after she opens her eyes and Landon backs away from Hope.

"Uh, I'll be over there." Landon motions to a part of the room then walks away to busy himself with setting up.

Emma walks closer to Hope, who adjusts her sweater by pulling it back on her shoulder, then hops down from the table.

"I'm not judging." Emma admits, putting her arms up in a non-threatening manner when Hope glares at her.

"Good. It's bad enough I'm helping do something I wanted nothing to do with. Where were you for the past three hours?" Hope interrogates after telling Emma she doesn't want to be there.

"I had to help Alaric with something and it took longer than expected." Emma explains and Hope sighs in frustration.

"Next time, leave a note or tell me when you're leaving." Hope demands as she writes on her clipboard, this demand making Emma confused.

"Want to explain why you're acting moody?" Emma suggests but this just frustrates Hope more.

"Maybe it's because you dragged me out of bed at three o'clock in the morning. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I had other plans today before you hijacked them. Or maybe, just maybe, I'd like to know who's here and who's not on certain occasions." Hope gives Emma three reasons as to why she's extra testy, the second reason shocking Emma.

"You know, I should just give everyone the new demand to notify me. Whether they're coming to my dorm, or entering a room they now I'm in." Hope mutters under her breath bitterly, clearly not liking constantly being interrupted, as she angrily writes more on her clipboard.

"You had other plans today?" Emma questions, genuinely confused which causes Hope to calm down slightly.

"Yes, I did. I even told Dr. Saltzman last night, when he visited me, that I cleared my entire usually busy schedule just for today to be my day. He didn't tell you." Hope declares, telling this just by looking at Emma's facial expression, which is confused and slightly betrayed.

"Of course he didn't. I mean the best way to get an uninterested student doing the thing they aren't interested in, is sending someone with a cry for help." Hope scoffs in realization at the headmaster's manipulation tactics.

"Well, if you want I can take over." Emma states as she looks at Hope sympathetically.

"Normally, I'd agree in a heartbeat to that suggestion. But, I have just about this entire thing done, I think it would be kind of silly to leave now without seeing it through. Don't you agree?" Hope asks Emma with a soft tone before going back to her clipboard.

"Oh, can you find Mr. Williams? He's supposed to be helping with the catering. Right now, Rafael is in the kitchen, and from the sound of it, he's dropping things. A lot of things." Hope adds as she flinches from something dropping along with Rafael cursing at it, after informing Emma, who nods then walks off to get Dorian.

"Well, that was awkward." Landon points out after he made his way back to where Hope is.

"Very awkward." Hope sighs in exhaustion as she places her arms around Landon's neck causing him to place his hands on her waist, embracing each other.

"I still have so much work to do." Hope mildly complains to Landon, who smirks and presses her against the table again.

"I think you could take another two, or five, or ten, minute break. I'm pretty sure Emma won't mind." Landon flirtatiously suggests, pecking her on the mouth after he said the numbers, causing her to smile and blush at him before pulling him into a deep kiss.

It breaks and Hope pulls him into another one, which leads to more, causing them to make out yet again.

Hope hoists herself up on the table they were making out on before as she continues to pull him into kisses and they put each others' hands up the other's shirts, proceeding to make out passionately.

Landon trails his mouth down to her neck, adjusting one of her sleeves, pulling it off of her shoulder, as she sighs pleasurably from it.

He starts to move his mouth to the other side of her neck, spending a minute on her throat before actually going to the opposite side.

Making out again, Hope runs a hand through his hair as he reaches for the claw clip in her hair but instead of removing the clip, he places his hand below, pulling her head back and proceeding to kiss her jawline then moving to her neck, which causes her to moan slightly.

Then Landon actually makes a move to take out her hair clip when footsteps approach, but they're too preoccupied.

"Oh, um, I should of knocked." Dorian announces himself, awkwardly clearing his throat before claiming he should of knocked, causing Hope and Landon to immediately stop making out to look at him, the two of them embarrassed by the turn of events.

"I was just passing through to get to the kitchen. I had no idea that…" Dorian trails off, awkward about what he witnessed, while Hope fixes her oversized sweater and Landon backs away from her again.

"Um, I'm so sorry. I forgot that I sent Emma to get you." Hope exclaims, embarrassed by the events.

"I have work to do. So, you can just head to the kitchen." Hope advises then takes her clipboard and walks away to set other things up while Dorian heads to the kitchen to help Rafael.

Hope ignores Landon for the next three hours, it now being lunchtime and Hope is bending over a different table as she checks some things off of her clipboard.

"Hey, I'm heading to lunch. You want me to bring you back something?" Landon wonders as he stands in front of her and she looks up at him.

"Yes, please. I'm starving." Hope claims and Landon smiles at her before leaving to get lunch as Hope goes back to her clipboard.

At the dining hall, Lizzie and Josie are standing against a wall, with Lizzie longingly looking at Rafael which Josie eventually notices.

"Lizzie, go talk to him. You clearly want to." Josie points out causing Lizzie to frown.

"I don't know. I want to ask him if he wants to be my date to the Miss Mystic Pageant but I feel he might say no." Lizzie reveals, shocking Josie, who wanted to ask him the same question.

"Well, you won't know if you don't ask. Now, go talk to him." Josie advises so Lizzie starts to walk over to Rafael's table when Jed cuts in front of her.

"Hey, Lizzie. Do you have a date to the pageant?" Jed wonders curiously, shocking Lizzie.

"Uh, no. But..." Lizzie starts to explain after answering but Jed cuts her off.

"Great. I'll be your escort. See you later." Jed claims then walks off leaving Lizzie frowning in confusion before she walks back to Josie, who looks concerned for her twin.

"What happened?" Josie asks, taking note of her frown.

"I just got an escort, but it isn't Rafael. Jed just came up and told me he would be my escort after I told him I didn't have one." Lizzie explains, more confused than upset.

"Why would Jed want to be your escort?" Josie wonders curiously but Lizzie shakes her head.

"I have no idea." Lizzie states plainly, still very confused on what just happened.

Back at the main hall, Hope eats the lunch that Landon brought back for her as she continues to intently work on setting up while Emma and Landon help out with what she can't do since she's usually always preoccupied.

Another three hours pass, meaning that Hope has been working for twelve hours straight with only two breaks, and she is currently fixing a floral arrangement that a passing by student accidentally messed up because they knocked it over then put the flowers back in the vase then walked away from it.

"Hey, the event starts in two hours. Why don't I finish up here and you go take a break, or maybe a nap?" Emma suggests as she walks up to Hope, who clearly wants to agree but instead just shakes her head.

"Um, I'm actually going to go check and see if the contestants are getting ready." Hope claims as she places the finishing touches on the flowers then walks away after smiling at the finished result of the arrangement.


	3. Save Me a Dance

Hope walks up the stairs, then heads to where the contestants would be getting ready.

"Come in." Josie's voice calls out after Hope knocks on the door so she enters.

As usual, Josie is focusing on doing Lizzie's hair, yet half of her hair is in curls while the rest of it is wavy, implying that she was working on her hair at some point before Lizzie showed.

"Hey, I just wanted to remind you that the pageant starts in two hours." Hope informs them which horrifies Josie, as can be told by her facial expression.

"What? Two hours. I was so focused on Lizzie's hair for the past couple hours, I forgot to finish my own. It's not even halfway done yet." Josie starts to panic, this revelation horrifying Lizzie.

"I told you that I could do my own hair but you insisted." Lizzie retorts to a panicked Josie, who rushes over to her own make-up table to continue working on her hair as Lizzie puts the finishing touches on her own, this leaving Hope amused by their bickering.

"Well, improv might need to become your new best friend. I've got to go finish setting up but I thought I'd let you know." Hope claims and is about to walk out when Lizzie calls after her.

"Hey, are you going to be at the pageant?" Lizzie wonders causing Hope to stop in her tracks, turn to face the Saltzman twins, who look at her expectantly, and thinks for a moment before sighing.

"Uh, yeah. Would hate if all my hard work went to waste. I wouldn't miss it." Hope declares causing both Lizzie and Josie to smile at her gratefully then Hope leaves them to get ready after Lizzie left to go get into her dress.

Hope walks down the steps then goes to talk to Landon, who isn't far from the staircase.

"Hey, guess who is officially on the guest list?" Hope asks in a very sarcastic tone, catching Landon's attention.

"Yep, I've just been Saltzman'd. Apparently, both of them want me to be present. So I figured, why the hell not, I mean I planned this entire thing for peat sake, I might as well make an appearance. But I'm only staying for moral support towards them and maybe to see the winner." Hope rants to Landon about having to stay because of the Saltzman twins while he just listens, shocked that she's actually going to be staying.

"Ughh, I hate my inability to say no to them. I have some last minute preparations to deal with, then check with the food and then get dressed for the event." Hope gives Landon a kiss on the cheek after explaining what she has to do then walks away.

Over an hour later, Emma goes to check on the contestants, some of whom are still getting ready, like Josie.

"Alright girls, you have fifteen minutes. Let's get the already dressed lined up." Emma commands and some of the girls start to line up.

'Well, improv might need to become your new best friend.' Hope's words from earlier echoed through Josie's mind after Emma left the room.

"Josie, I'm having difficulties zippering my dress." Lizzie complains, calling out to her twin for help, who snaps out of hearing Hope's echoed words.

"Um, just a minute." Josie calls back to her then, taking Hope's words to heart, she totally improvises on her hairstyle, it actually turning out cute, before rushing to help with Lizzie's zipper problems.

"Five minutes." Emma calls into the room while Josie gets into her own dress after helping Lizzie.

"Come on Josie, you're like the fifth contestant that's going to be called. Also, that's a really cute hairstyle, by the way." Lizzie compliments Josie's hair, which makes her nervously smile as she lets Lizzie do her zipper.

Josie is wearing a thin floor-length dress that's a very lovely navy blue with a sheer sparkle fabric over it, fabulous black heels, and a really cute updo that she improvised.

Lizzie however, looks like a princess, with light, girly makeup, a princess-style dress, that's pink, sparkly, and over-the-top gorgeous, with a pair of her own fabulous heels that are silver and her hairstyle is an extravagant half-up-half-down.

"You look really pretty." Josie compliments her sister with a smile and Lizzie smiles back.

"So do you, sis." Lizzie then hugs her before Josie goes to take her spot as the fifth contestant and Lizzie is the last person so she's at the back of the line.

Downstairs, Hope enters the pageant that is now in full swing, wearing a white dress that shows off her sides as it's criss-cross in the front with two locks of her hair braided then pinned back, and her heels are also white with bedazzles on them, her aunt Rebekah claimed that her niece needed to have in her shoe collection.

"Alright. Let this pageant begin." Emma exclaims and the room is happy by this statement as they cheer.

"Hey. Nice dress." Landon states, startling Hope and causing her to turn around only to see Landon in a suit.

"Nice suit." Hope compliments and Landon looks down with a nervous smile.

"Well, I figured since you were going to sit through this, I thought I'd give you moral support and sit through it with you." Landon reveals causing Hope to blush then pull him into a small kiss.

"Josie Saltzman and her escort, Penelope Park." Emma announces and Josie walks down the stairs with Penelope meeting her halfway then they walk down together.

Emma continues to announce the contestants and their escorts until the end.

"And lastly, Lizzie Saltzman and her escort, Jed." Emma announces as Lizzie appears at the top of the stairs before slowly walking down, clearly trying to catch a glimpse of her escort.

"And her escort, Jed." Emma announces again, looking for Jed as well.

"She's about to be stood up. Wait here, I got this." Hope murmurs to Landon then walks over and meets Lizzie halfway up the steps then walks down with her, becoming her new escort.

Emma just smiles at the change as though nothing happened then walks off stage to take a phone call.

Lizzie and Hope walk to the dance floor with the others, Lizzie gaping at Hope in shock.

"Where the hell is my escort?" Lizzie wonders in whisper as she curtsies and Hope bows.

"I have no idea. Look, just focus on me and let's just finish the dance, okay?" Hope advises, whispering back, then the two start to dance.

After they have both of their hands barely touching, they're about to waltz when Hope feels a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't mind if I cut in, do you?" Jed finally makes an appearance and Hope just nods before walking off, leaving Lizzie and Jed to dance together.

"Where were you?" Lizzie interrogates as they dance.

"I'm sorry. I got distracted with something and then I forgot where this was taking place, so it took awhile for me to find." Jed explains, easing Lizzie's nerves.

"Well, I guess I'm lucky Hope stepped in to stop me from being stood up." Lizzie states, looking at Hope, who's leaning against the table her and Landon were caught making out on twice.

Hope watches them dance then glances over at the arrangement only to see a note on it causing her to pick it up.

The note reads; '_H, hey, sorry for the inconvenience. Got called to help Alaric with research, be back soon. -E'_

Hope smiles at the note that Emma left, as it's in her handwriting then writes on the back of it;

'_Thank you. -H'_

Hope continues to smile happily about the fact that Emma left her a note on the fact that she left, until realization dawns on her as the music, and therefore the dancing, has stopped.

"Emma had business to attend to. I guess I really am running this pageant." Hope mutters to Landon, who just walked up to her, then she makes her way to the microphone that Emma used to announce the contestants.

"Alright, that was some marvelous dancing. Let's give a round of applause to these people and their dancing talent." Hope claps for them causing some of the room to do the same yet this causes Landon to facepalm and shake his head.

"Now, it's time to announce the winner. The winner of this pageant will receive a fancy sash and a… something else, that isn't here at the current moment." Hope looks around the area with Dorian, holding the sash on a pillow, standing next to her.

"Just one minute." Hope claims then put her hand over the microphone before turning to face Dorian.

"Uh, Mr. Williams. Where's the crown?" Hope wonders causing Dorian to think then look around as well.

"You know, there's supposed to be a crown holder next to you. Are we not doing the crown thing this year?" Hope questions after reminding that someone's supposed to be holding the crown and Dorian nods.

"We do the crown thing every year. I was so distracted with helping Rafael cook, finding the sash then actually getting ready, I completely forgot about the crown holder." Dorian explains, genuinely forgetful.

"Okay, uh, I'll keep them occupied. Just find the crown holder." Hope demands causing Dorian to put the sash on the chair behind Hope and walks away to find the person who was supposed to stand next to him with the crown.

"Sorry about that. Mr. Williams is off fixing the minor problem. So, while he does that, I'm going to tell you what this pageant is really all about." Hope exclaims with a reassuring nod and smile at the crowd as well as the contestants.

"As we all know, this is a beauty pageant but what you should know is that it's not all about beauty. For one, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and for two, if this event was actually strictly about beauty, I mean, who would actually win. All these girls are dressed beautifully and are just like drop-dead gorgeous so, like really who would win?" Hope wonders and there's some chuckling from the crowd as well as the contestants.

"No, this pageant is about intelligence, devotion to a good cause, selflessness, charitable behavior, loyalty, and so many other traits I'm sure they all have." Hope motions to the contestants as Dorian comes back with MG, who's holding the crown on it's own pillow and Dorian picks up the sash as MG hands Hope the envelope.

"We finally have the crown, and the envelope, that will tell us who rightfully deserves the fancy sash and tiara." Hope smiles cheerfully, glad that this event is almost over which Landon can tell just by looking at her smile.

Emma sneaks in, only to see Hope on stage about to announce the winner.

"And so, the winner of this year's Miss Mystic Falls is…" Hope turns to the drummer who was about play.

"Don't you dare drumroll." Hope demands in whisper gritting through her teeth, so they don't do anything.

"Now, there's no cheating and with the ensurity of this being unable to be rigged, the name in this envelope won fair and square." Hope adds then opens it, pulling out a piece of paper and placing it on top of the envelope.

"The winner is… Miss Lizzie Saltzman." Hope motions to Lizzie, who looks very shocked by the turn of events, and Hope lets everyone cheer as she places the sash as well as the tiara on Lizzie then goes back to the microphone.

"Now, anyone who doesn't go here, please leave." Hope kindly demands then walks off stage towards Landon as Lizzie and Josie hug happily.

Hope hugs Landon as she sighs from exhaustion, clearly tired from the entire day's events.

"Can we go back to my dorm now? I can't stand being here anymore." Hope exclaims after suggesting they both go back to her dorm room in a slightly whiny tone.

So, her and Landon leave while the rest of the people start packing up or just head out to leave.

Once they reach the dorm room, Hope immediately plops on her bad and takes off her heels, sighing in relief when she does.

"Why are heels so painful?" Hope complains, massaging her feet while Landon removes his jacket and tie.

"I have no idea. I've never worn heels. And I don't want to." Landon quickly adds once he saw Hope get a devious look across her face.

"So, what were your plans before they were totally and completely hijacked?" Landon questions causing Hope to sigh, stand up, walk over to him, and embrace him by placing her hands on his face, which he immediately retaliates by placing his hands on her waist.

"It might sound really cheesy and romantic, but my plans were spending the entire day with you. Yep, just you, me, maybe a picnic in the dorm, and basically just spending it in bed watching movies together." Hope reveals her day's plan to Landon, who's very shocked to hear her plans.

"Well, it's only seven meaning the night is still young. I think we can fit in a movie or two." Landon suggests causing Hope to smile happily at him before pulling him into a kiss.

Meanwhile, Lizzie and Jed are walking down a hallway after everyone else cleared out, as he's escorting her back to her dorm.

"Congratulations on winning." Jed exclaims as Lizzie adjusts the crown on her head.

"Thanks. You know, I don't think this is the way to my dorm." Lizzie looks around the hallway that they are in suspiciously but Jed just grabs her and pulls her into a passionate kiss, which shocks her.

"Um, I should really get back to Josie." Lizzie states after the kiss ends, starting to get nervous by Jed's behavior and slowly backs away but Jed grabs her a bit more roughly, then pins her to the wall with both hands around her neck, scaring her.

"What are you…" Before Lizzie can ask the question, Jed cuts her off with a kiss that was rougher than the first one.

Lizzie pushes him off of her, in fear but he doesn't let up as he grabs at her dress and arms.

"Jed stop it. Get off of me." Lizzie tries to escape but Jed won't let her.

Hope, who was walking down a different hall in order to get to the kitchen, hears the commotion and follows Lizzie's desperately, pleading voice.

"Jed, just stop it." Lizzie shouts at him and eventually lets up but not because she told him to.

Hope jumped on him, tackling Jed to ground, getting in three punches to his face before he kicks her off of him, then kicks her again, this time in the stomach, once he's stood up then he runs off.

Lizzie goes to help Hope to her feet and once she is, Hope focuses on Lizzie more than herself.

"Are you okay? I heard the commotion." Hope explains after looking over her now bruised arms and neck, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine." Lizzie assures her but Hope looks unsure.

"We should go to the headmaster." Hope declares but Lizzie gets a look of horror.

"No." Lizzie immediately responds.

"Please don't tell my dad. Or Josie, or anyone. No one will believe us and Josie… I just don't want her to know. I'll tell her when I'm ready but just please, please don't tell my father about this." Lizzie pleads desperately as tears start to fall from her cheeks and Hope looks very skeptical before replying.

"Ok, I won't tell the headmaster or your sister. You have my word." Hope agrees to Lizzie's plea, giving her word on the matter.

"Thank you." Lizzie sighs out gratefully then walks away to her dorm room, leaving Hope watching after her, still unsure about their encounter.

Hope eventually walks back to her dorm room with snacks to see Landon awake and waiting for her.

"Hey, you were gone for awhile. What happened?" Landon wonders curiously as she climbs on the bed with the snacks she gathered.

"Um, almost got caught by the people in the kitchen. Just managed a narrow escape." Hope claims, lying to him as Lizzie didn't want her to tell anyone.

The two then curl up, eating snacks and watching movies, enjoying part of the plans that Hope had for them, until they eventually fall asleep.


	4. A Violent Revelation

Hope and Landon are sleeping peacefully when there is a knock on the door.

However, unlike before she set up for the pageant, Hope jerks awake at the knock on the door then turns to look at her alarm clock which reads five a.m.

Hope grunts in annoyance at being woken up at this time, although she will admit it's better than three a.m.

So she goes to answer the door, only to find Dorian outside of it.

"Oh, hi Mr. Williams." Hope greets him sleepily in her lounge clothes as she didn't change clothes sometime after she fell asleep.

"I hate waking you up at this time but the headmaster wants to see in his office." Dorian explains causing Hope to be shocked yet she nods it off and Dorian walks away.

Hope slides on some flats then sleepily knocks on the headmaster's office door.

"Enter." Alaric says plainly then takes a bite of an apple as Hope walks in looking confused.

"Um, Mr. Williams said that you wanted to see me." Hope points out as he motions for her to sit, which she does.

"I got word from one of the werewolves that you beat Jed senseless." Alaric gets straight to the point and Hope gapes at him in shock before quickly recovering from it.

"Care to explain why?" Alaric wonders then takes another bite of his apple.

Hope, wanting to tell the headmaster the truth but realizing Lizzie might kill her, hesitates before responding.

"I was just walking around the school, as I was unable to sleep because of my species being a little on the restless side, so when I came across Jed, I was just infuriated and I beat him senseless as a way to help vent my anger." Hope lies, giving a reasonable enough explanation that causes Alaric to sigh and nod understandingly at this.

"I thought you said you had your emotions under control." Alaric brings up a past conversation and Hope nods.

"I do most days. I just don't know what got into me tonight. I'll do better, I swear." Hope claims still nodding even though a part of her knows where this might be headed.

"I pray that you when you come back. In violation of the rule where we don't harm fellow students, you've been suspended for a week." Alaric states and Hope nods in agreement to this punishment as she knew it was going to happen then she gets up to leave when Ric stops her.

"I'd like you off campus in two hours." Alaric calls out causing Hope to face him and just nods once more before leaving to collect her things.

So, Hope goes back to her room to pack her things, hating the fact that she just lied the headmaster, who she considers a friend.

She's about to write a note to Landon when he wakes from hearing her move around.

"Hey, you're up… very early I see." Landon sleepily mentions after hesitating so he can look at the alarm clock, which now reads 5:30 a.m.

"Yeah, the headmaster wanted to see me. I just got suspended for a week." Hope reveals, which causes Landon to sit up in the bed and look at her, shocked.

"Why? How?" Landon asks curiously yet it's obvious by his face that he thinks it's unfair.

"Um, remember when I told you I almost got caught by the chefs in the kitchen?" Hope wonders and Landon nods in agreement.

"Yeah, that was a lie. I encountered Jed and I beat him up because my wolf temper got the best of me." Hope admits that she lied to him and gives him the same lie she gave Ric.

Landon gets out of bed to hug her which she reciprocates happily yet also sleepily.

"Well, it's only a week. I'll see you soon and when we do, maybe I should enforce the rule of 'we don't lie to each other'." Landon suggests causing Hope to chuckle.

"Okay. I should probably go tell Lizzie and Josie. So they don't wonder where I am." Hope nods as she smiles at Landon, who seems to agree, then she leaves.

So, she heads to Lizzie and Josie's dorm room, entering after knocking, seeing that Lizzie is the only one there and also seeing that she's trying to find a scarf in her closet.

"Hey, Lizzie. I know I gave my word I wouldn't say anything but I need to tell Josie." Hope gets to the point causing Lizzie to turn and look at her in shock.

"Why? You literally just mentioned that you gave your word." Lizzie brings up, clearly confused by Hope wanting to back out of her word and Hope nods awkwardly in agreement.

"I know, but Jed went to some other wolf on campus, who told the headmaster part of the story and I just got suspended for 'beating up' Jed." Hope puts air quotes around beating up as she explains to Lizzie what recently happened.

"Why do you have to tell Josie?" Lizzie questions curiously with a frown, upset that Hope saving her had gotten the girl suspended.

"Because she's going to want to know where I am. And I can't lie to her." Hope admits shyly as she looked down when she said the second part of her reason and Lizzie nods in agreement, knowing that both statements are true.

"Okay, you can tell her." Lizzie relents and Hope is about to walk out when Lizzie adds something.

"Oh, Hope. I'm sorry that you got suspended." Lizzie says softly, seemingly genuine causing Hope to look back at her and give her a warm smile before leaving the dorm room.

It's just before seven and Hope finally runs into Josie, who is in the library reading a book.

"Hey, I've been looking for you. Can we talk?" Hope whispers to Josie, who looks up at her, having caught her attention when Hope claimed she was looking for her.

"About what?" Josie whispers back, looking curious of Hope's motives.

"About your sister, Lizzie. And the fact that I just got suspended." Hope replies plainly, still whispering, this reply shocking Josie.

Once Hope and Josie moved to a non-public part of the library, Hope informed Josie of everything that happened nearly twelve hours ago causing Josie to look furious from the information that Hope just spilled.

"I have to go. I'm meant to be off campus in fifteen minutes." Hope exclaims as she looks at her watch then leaves Josie in the library, who is still in shock and still furious.

Josie heads back to her dorm room where Lizzie is now putting on foundation, trying to cover the bruises that are on her neck.

"Hey, Hope informed me what happened last night." Josie states, looking at her twin sympathetically causing Lizzie to just turn her head to the side before looking back in the mirror, continuing to put on foundation.

"I made her promise not to but she made a good point. I can't lie to you either but you have to promise that you won't tell dad." Lizzie pleads with Josie, emphasising 'have' making Josie hesitate before nodding.

"I promise that I won't tell dad." Josie promises agreeing to keep it a secret which has Lizzie turn to face her and smile at this promise.

"Um, Lizzie, I think you're using the wrong foundation. Your neck looks orange." Josie claims causing Lizzie to frown and look back in the mirror, only to realize that Josie's right, her neck is orange.

"Damn it." Lizzie murmurs as Josie chuckles a bit before helping her twin remove the foundation and put on a different one.

A week later, Hope is due back at the school and Lizzie's been wearing scarves for the past week, to cover the bruises on her neck as her jackets cover the ones on her arms.

Josie is walking down a hallway when she is suddenly drawn to the sound of Jed's voice so she follows it all the way to the gym where he is talking to the other werewolves.

Josie makes her presence known by dropping her bag near the bleachers, which catches Jed's attention, as he looks at her and decides to walk over.

"I feel like this should become a werewolf only place." Jed reveals his thoughts, looking at Josie with distaste but she just rolls her eyes as she grabs the talisman Hope gave her on her birthday.

"We need to talk." Josie demands, catching Jed's attention.

"Do we now?" Jed wonders in a sarcastic tone and Josie nods firmly in agreement.

"You know, you should be more careful when attacking somebody. Especially since your attack could leave marks that won't go away." Josie calls out after him since he started to walk away from her, this causing him to turn to face her again, looking confused.

"I don't know what you mean." Jed claims but Josie scoffs at his ignorance.

"Yes you do. Lizzie after the Miss Mystic Pageant last week. You didn't just attack her, you nearly assaulted her and Hope is the one who gets suspended." Josie reveals to the other wolves in the room, shocking them, but this has Jed's face go cold.

"Maybe Hope shouldn't of attacked me. She wouldn't of gotten suspended if she did." Jed remarks snarkily yet his face is still serious.

"You attacked Lizzie last week and before that, you nearly killed Rafael." Josie reminds him of when he and his fellow packmates got the advantage on Rafael.

"Those were the rules. Submit or die doing so." Jed exclaims plainly with a smirk as though it's normal but this infuriates Josie, who keeps her cool.

"Those were your rules, Jed. Not the headmaster's rules." Josie points out and the smirk leaves Jed's face.

"Oh, I think you're just jealous that Hope got suspended. It's probably because she actually has somewhere to return to. Unlike you." Jed starts which cause Josie to look away evasively, giving Jed more ammo.

"You know, if your mother, the headmistress, were here frequently working and living in town, you'd have a home to go to, were you ever to be suspended. But you can't because your father's the headmaster and he would never suspend or expel you. Which explains why you never got in trouble for when you gave me a pain infliction spell." Jed is infuriating Josie more and more by the second, yet she continues to keep her chill.

"I was protecting Rafael from your wrath, just like Hope was with Lizzie." Josie retorts but Jed just rolls her eyes.

"It's just a shame Landon didn't receive any help when you beat the crap out of him and left him for dead." Josie adds with a bitter tone causing Jed to just roll his eyes at this.

"You should know how easy it was." Jed just states randomly and cryptically, catching Josie's attention.

"What was?" Josie looks very curious yet also scared of what Jed has to say.

"The Miss Mystic Pageant. Honestly though, congratulate Lizzie for me, will you? She totally deserved it." Jed emphasised totally which makes Josie more curious as well as concerned.

"If you're implying that you rigged the voting, you couldn't. It was made impossible for anyone to do so." Josie continues to act confident during this face-off with Jed, who is just all-in-all amused by it.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. The voting couldn't be rigged. The voters on the other hand." Jed emphasises voting and voters, which gives Josie an idea of what he did but before she can ask about it he continues.

"Just because Rafael's the alpha doesn't mean that the wolves don't still listen to me. I mean, do you know how easy it was for your sister to win when all I did was tell the wolves that she was deservant of it?" Jed wonders in a playfully, taunting tone.

"You should probably know a couple things, uh, Rafael voted for you, along with Penelope. Lizzie voted for you and so did Kaleb. MG was going to but he voted for Lizzie as did little Pedro, who was having a very difficult time choosing between you and your sister. But with a little convincing from mua, he ultimately chose Lizzie. Also, Hope voted for you as well." Jed reveals the voting causing Josie to momentarily blush at his last revelation before getting serious again.

Josie is shocked that Jed manipulated a child just so her sister can win when she realizes that she doesn't even know why.

"You made yourself Lizzie's escort. Why did you want Lizzie to win?" Josie remembers when Lizzie told her that Jed made himself Lizzie's escort for unknown reasons.

"Because she wanted to win. Also because I saw it as an opportunity. Having a title of any kind comes with a lot of baggage, I mean just look at Hope. Lizzie needed to know that the title of Miss Mystic Falls doesn't just mean having a lot to do but a lot to look out for. Because if she doesn't, she might end up actually assaulted." Jed explains his reasoning and although he makes a point, Josie is disgusted by his tactics of 'helping'.

"I'm done talking to you. But I can't let you leave, now that you know my secrets." Jed starts threateningly approaching Josie, who reflexively backs away before speaking.

"You going to do to me what you nearly did to Lizzie? Hmm, to prevent me from talking?" Josie interrogates, even though it's obvious she already believes he is but he just smiles at her.

"See, I was thinking about doing that but I then realized that even if I did, you'd still be able to talk. So, I was thinking of… removing you altogether." Jed exclaims with a twisted smile after hesitating to find the words he wanted to use and before Josie can process, or even understand what his words mean, he backhands her across the face causing her to fly into the bottom row of the bleachers.

"Ughh." Josie grunts in pain and before she can stand up to fight back, Jed drags her off of the bleachers, gripping her ankles roughly, then flings her into a wall.

For the next forty-five minutes, Jed treated Josie like ragdoll, flinging her carelessly around the gym while the other werewolves watch on as though it's nothing new.

Josie has just landed on her side, beaten, bloody, and bruised, having blurry vision as she blurily sees Jed approaching her with a knife he took from his pocket.

Fortunately, before Jed can make the killing blow to Josie, who's in near death condition, MG, who heard the commotion, swoops in and flings Jed into a wall on the opposite side of the gym then checks a now unconscious Josie for broken bones, revealing only one, before picking her up then walking out, taking her to Emma after he grabbed her bag.

An hour later, Josie wakes up, she's still in critical condition and has a broken leg, but this doesn't stop her from trying to leave bed, reaching for the crutches that are leaning against the table.

MG walks in, seeing what Josie's doing, so he goes to stop her.

"Hey, you nearly died today. You need rest." MG informs her as he places her further back on the bed but she resists and weakly attempts to shove him off of her.

"I'm fine. I need to see the headmaster. Where is my bag?" Josie demands needing to see her father before looking around for her bag, that MG picks up off the ground, revealing that it was at the foot of the bed.

"I need to see my father, now." Josie exclaims after taking the bag from him so MG sighs and hands her the crutches which she takes so she can use them to help her stand up.

With MG's help, Josie makes it to her father's office, which MG knocks on the door of.

"Come in." Alarinc invites them in then looks up only to be appalled by the sight of Josie on crutches.

"What happened?" Alaric asks, very worried but Josie just weakly smiles at him.

"I know it might not matter as the time is up, but I just cleared Hope's name." Josie claims, confusing both Alaric and MG.

Josie reaches into her bag, pulling something out, and places it on her father's desk, revealing the object to be a tape recorder.

Alaric looks at it skeptically, not really sure what to do with it, but Josie just hits the play button and Alaric hears the entire conversation that Josie had with Jed in the gym, shocking both MG and Alaric.

"I got a confession so I wouldn't break my promise to Lizzie." Josie states, looking happy as she weakly smiles, once the tape ended, this statement revealing that she had simply goaded Jed into being honest with her just so she can have him tell the headmaster without actually doing so.

"Ok, MG take Josie to see Emma. It appears that I need to have a strict conversation with Jed." Alaric advises MG to have Josie see help then he walks out of his office in order to talk to Jed.

MG takes Jose back to the hospital wing, where Emma tends to her until sends her off to her dorm room to wait till she gives her an herbal remedy she needs to take every two hours.

Lizzie has just heard the news from Alaric about Josie's condition and is infuriated with her twin.

Josie is lying on her bed, still weak, when Lizzie walks in so she can check on her.

"Hey Lizzie." Josie greets her but Lizzie looks upset and infuriated by her condition.

"Dad told me what you did. Why couldn't you just leave it alone, Josie?" Lizzie wonders causing Josie to sigh, knowing where this is going.

"Jed was getting away with a lot. He rigged most of the school's decisions in voting, including Pedro. He nearly killed Rafael when Raf first got here, along with Landon. All that on top of the fact that he got Hope suspended and nearly assaulted you. I couldn't let him get away with it any longer." Josie defends her actions and although Lizzie is touched, she still feels the need to berate her sister for it.

"I understand that, Josie, I do. But what you clearly don't understand is that you almost died because of it!" Lizzie practically shouts at her, annoyed.

"Well, I'm alive." Josie retorts in a loud tone that isn't shouting and Lizzie scoffs.

"Yeah, thank god MG was there!" Lizzie yells back causing Josie to silent, realizing that if MG didn't show up, she would actually be dead.

"I would like to go and thank MG for saving your life but who knows, that might give you wiggle room to do something else that's stupid and nearly gets you killed." Lizzie crosses her arms glaring at Josie, still not a fan of her sister's behavior which mildly annoys Josie, as she sighs in exasperation and exhaustion.

The tense moment between them is interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in." Lizzie says, still not taking her eyes off of Josie, and Hope walks in.

"Hey, Emma told me what happened. She asked me to give you these." Hope holds up a cup that Josie groans at, knowing what they are.

"Great. You can stay here and watch her. I have to go thank MG." Lizzie claims, giving Hope the roll of babysitter, then leaves closing the door behind her.

"Please don't give me a lecture. Lizzie already berated me for my actions." Josie admits once she sees Hope's stern and mildly angry facial expression.

"Fine, I won't. Mainly because you're most likely going to get berated by your father once he finds Jed and you're feeling better." Hope sits on the bed, still holding the cup, that she puts near Josie's mouth.

"Ughh, that's really disgusting." Josie exclaims after taking a small sip of it and Hope places it on the nightstand.

"Yeah, medicine never tastes good. But Emma assures me that a sip of those every two hours will help to put you on the mend." Hope informs Josie after agreeing with Josie's words causing the brunette to weakly smile at her.

"Do you think Jed's going to get expelled?" Josie wonders, clearly curious as she yawns.

"Most likely. You know, you could've waited till you had more dirt on him then what you went to the headmaster with." Hope points out and Josie nods in agreement.

"I know, but how many people do you think would've became victims of his wrath at that point?" Josie looks at Hope expectantly, believing she has the answer.

"I guess you're right. Either way, he would still be getting expelled, so it doesn't really matter in the long run." Hope just agrees with Josie's point then sees her slowly dozing off.

"Is it cool if I rest my eyes for just a minute?" Josie looks at her through hooded eyes, smiling at her, before slightly shifting and closes her eyes.

Hope gives a small smile at this then gets off the bed in order to leave but stops, turns to look at her, walks back over to cover her with the blanket that's on her bed, tucking her in and then leaves a note by the cup of herbs before making her way back to the door.

However, before she leaves, she looks back over at Josie, who is sound asleep, and smiles at her then finally leaves the dorm just before Lizzie came back.

Lizzie clearly wants to rant more to her sister about her actions when she walks in but then sees her sleeping peacefully so she just walks over to the side of the bed, sees the note that Hope left, smiling at it, before gently nudging her sister awake.

"Hmm?" Josie partially lifts her head up to look at her twin curiously even though she's still half-asleep and Lizzie has a smile on her face.

"Good news. Dad just expelled Jed, he's no longer a problem anymore." Lizzie whispers to Josie, who smiles happily at the news.

"Yay." Josie sighs out sleepily then rests her head back on her pillow and goes back to sleep, with Lizzie watching over her.

Lizzie goes over to her own bed and starts reading a magazine then looks up to see her sister sound asleep again, which causes her to smile, happy that Josie is alive from the day's events.


End file.
